Altuve, Correa help Astros rally for 4-3 win over Yankees

HOUSTON (AP) _ Jose Altuve hit a long home run and Carlos Correa’s broken-bat RBI infield single in the eighth inning helped the Houston Astros rally past the New York Yankees 4-3 on Monday night for their fourth straight victory.

Aaron Judge homered off Astros ace Justin Verlander as New York built a 3-1 lead in a matchup between AL powerhouses that met in the 2017 league championship series. Robinson Chirinos tied it with a two-run double in the seventh against Zack Britton.

The game was tied with one out in the eighth when Adam Ottavino (1-1) walked Alex Bregman before a single by Michael Brantley sent Bregman to third. Correa then shattered his bat on a grounder that dribbled down the first base line, allowing Bregman to score.

The Astros trailed by two and had runners at first and second with two outs in the seventh when Chirinos doubled off Britton. The burly 5-foot-11, 225-pound Tyler White scored from first when he slid in just ahead of the tag by catcher Gary Sanchez.

Ryan Pressly (1-0) extended his scoreless streak to 22 1/3 innings with a perfect eighth to get the win and Roberto Osuna pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his third save.

Correa and Chirinos finished with two hits apiece.

A day after homering seven times in a 15-3 win over the Orioles, the Yankees got a solo shot from Judge in the fifth but were shut down by Houston’s bullpen in the last three innings to snap a three-game winning streak.

Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka allowed just one earned run in his third straight start, scattering three hits over six innings.

Verlander yielded seven hits and three runs in six innings.

The Yankees loaded the bases with one out in the third with two walks and a single by Brett Gardner. Luke Voit’s single gave New York a 1-0 lead, but Verlander retired the next two batters to limit the damage.

Houston tied it in the fourth when the 5-foot-6 Altuve sent a drive 448 feet onto the train tracks above left field.

New York quickly regained the lead when Judge launched a fastball from Verlander over the short wall in right field for an opposite-field homer with one out in the fifth.

DJ LeMahieu doubled with two outs in the sixth and the Yankees padded their lead when Clint Frazier hit an RBI single off the left field wall to make it 3-1.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Yankees: Manager Aaron Boone said left-hander CC Sabathia came out of his fourth minor league start well on Sunday and he’ll return to the rotation at some point this weekend. Sabathia is on the injured list recovering after having a stent inserted into his heart in December because of the blockage of an artery. … Reliever Dellin Betances (shoulder) threw to hitters and is scheduled to pitch a simulated game Thursday. If that goes well he could pitch for Class A Tampa this weekend. “I feel like he’s making progress and today was another step,” Boone said. … Ace right-hander Luis Severino is returning to New York to have more tests on his injured shoulder. Boone says Severino isn’t where he wants to be and the team wants an examination to determine why he isn’t progressing as expected. Severino was supposed to start on opening day but has been out since he was scratched with right shoulder inflammation from what would have been his first spring training appearance on March 5.

UP NEXT

Yankees: Rookie RHP Jonathan Loaisiga (0-0, 2.25 ERA) is scheduled to start for New York on Tuesday night. Loaisiga allowed one hit and one run in four innings against Detroit in his last start.

Astros: RHP Gerrit Cole (0-2, 3.00) will start for Houston when the series continues Tuesday night. Cole will look for his first win this season after
dropping his first two starts, capped by a 4-0 loss to Texas in which he allowed four hits and three runs in six innings.